Persona: Fragment
by R.A. Burgard
Summary: It begins on a train ride and ends up engulfing an entire college campus in shadow.  Mirrors reveal the truth of the world, and loneliness breeds chaos.  Oscar Belcourt is searching for the truth, but is it really all it seems?
1. Chapter 1

Persona: FRAGMENT

By

R.A. Burgard

First Shard

Ignition

It had only been an hour, but the boredom of the train ride was finally settling in with its rhythmic bumping and shaking. I have my headphones on, but not even the music could hold my interest or keep me awake. The day had been long, and the goodbyes hard, but I knew I'd see my family again in good time. Today I begin my transfer to Carroll State University, a large school in the middle of Pennsylvania. Financial troubles made me switch to a state university, and this was the cheapest I could find that would offer my major, so reluctantly I'm to study at this large university.

No new texts on my phone; the only ones were from friends at my old college wishing me luck since my new one started a few weeks before them. My phone was silent now and seemed to be mocking me, almost telling me how my future would be at my new school: lonely and boring. I don't know how it's possible to be alone in a school so big, but somehow I get the feeling that's what I'm in for.

I can't hold it back any longer, and I let sleep take me into its dark folds. Maybe a dream is just what I need to keep myself going.

I wake up in a plush chair in a room with velvet lights shining all around. I'm seated at a table with a velvet cloth covering it, and across from me sits a man with the most gargantuan nose I've ever seen. With his head down his nose looked to be a good half a foot long, and I could see the balding crown of his head: straight, long grey hair coming down the sides. He wore a pressed black suit, and hardly seemed to notice me.

"Ah, you're awake now," he exclaims looking up into my eyes across his incredibly enormous nose. "I was wondering if maybe I should take a nap too to pass the time." I was about to reply, but he simply put a finger up to halt me. "No need, I know just what you're thinking. My name, is Igor and I am delighted to make your acquaintance.

"This is the Velvet Room. This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It is a room only those bound by a "contract" may enter. It may be that such a fate awaits you in the near future. Now then, why don't you introduce yourself?"

"My name is Oscar Belcourt, but my friends call me Oz," I reply, caught up in the mystery and atmosphere of the room.

"Hm…interesting. Do you believe in fate Mr. Belcourt?"

"I've never given it much thought before, sir."

"Igor, please call me Igor. Now, how about I give you a reading and see if your mind changes? Each reading uses the same cards, but is always different." The man laughs to himself for a brief moment, then pulls out a deck of Tarot cards. "Isn't that interesting? Life is much the same." He hung for a moment, letting the words sink in, then began the reading.

"Hm…the Hanged Man in the upright position represents sacrifice and introspection. In the future you will face a choice that you must not make a rash judgment upon lest you misread the paradox before you.

"The next is…oh my, Death itself has shown its face. However, Death is not always in the sense of the end of a life, but it is in fact the end of something. The question is, what will end, and what will begin?

"In the coming days you will enter into a contract of sorts, after which you will return here. The coming year is a turning point in your destiny. If the paradox remains, your future will be forever lost. My duty is to provide assistance to you to ensure that it does not come to pass.

"Now, it is time for you to wake up. Victoria, will you show him the way?"

"Yes sir," a female voice said. Looking up, I see a tall woman with wavy blond hair and golden eyes. She was striking, and I couldn't look away.

"Come along Mr. Belcourt," she said calmly. "It's time to wake up." She came forward, and rather than grab my hand she shoved me backwards as I fell through the floor and into a deep, endless darkness.

I awoke instantly in my seat, nearly falling out and onto the floor. I thought it had been the effects of being shoved through the abyss, but it turned out the train itself was violently shaking. Passengers were screaming as they tried to get out of their seats, but it was no help. Many were on the floor scrabbling to get up, and others were knocked out cold.

Looking across the aisle, I noticed a woman sleeping through it all, and when I called out to her to wake up, I noticed that she was sweating intensely. I also saw that the light on her body cast no shadow.

Despite that, I have no time to recover as I saw, in the window behind the woman, a gigantic red eye staring at me. A loud roar cut through the screams of the passengers, silencing them all. Then, the train shook its most violently as it was derailed and sent careening off into the wilderness. The train is rolling across the ground and I'm trying to keep my balance but I lost my footing and-

The world is out of focus, my sight fuzzy. I feel grass under my hand and something wet and warm trickling down my forehead. I try to stand but my body is too weak to move. I hear flames roar and crackle all around me, but I still can't move.

A strange noise meets my ears through the flames: something that sounds like chewing. I manage to get my head up and see the giant shadow beast feasting upon the bodies of my fellow passengers. Blood washes around the beast as it slakes its thirst and its hunger for flesh. I can barely keep myself from vomiting when I notice that I can move. My body is slow, but I manage to get up without making too much noise. As I move away from the beast, it seems to notice my movement and turns its head towards me. Its red eyes flash in recognition of more meat and fresh blood, as it lopes over the debris and slobbers on the ground.

My body freezes, I'm overcome with terror and I can't hold a thought together because this creature is going to eat me and kill me then I don't know what and my hand is shaking my knees collapse and I grope at the ground trying to find something to use as a weapon and-

"Thou art I…and I am thou," a voice calls out in my head, instantly clearing my mind of all fear. "From the sea of thy soul I come forth. I am Sigurd, Slayer of Dragons. Now, call out to me and I shall answer!" In the clarity of my mind, I know what I must do. I find a shard of glass on the ground and hold it in my right hand over my left.

"Per…so…na," I whisper as I plunge the shard into my hand, the blood spurting out of the wound. Light begins to flash from my hand where I stabbed myself, and the wind rushes around me, rustling the grass. I shut my eyes and let my head travel skyward, allowing the light to flood my body and stimulate all my senses. I was everywhere and nowhere, one and all. I felt everything the world had to offer and slowly my mind reached out to the universe. I knew what I must do now.

"Sigurd!" I shout, letting the word resound through the night. My bloody hand raised high into the air calls out to him, and I feel from the sea of my soul Sigurd respond. The light and wind stop. I know that behind me, with me, is Sigurd: for I am him and he is me.

The beast stops, then roars a bone-chilling sound that stops me in my tracks. It doesn't frighten me, because I know I can win. I know that _we_ will win. Suddenly, I notice that in my hand is a long-sword perfectly balanced and weighted in my hand. It's adorned with white feathers that spread from the hilt, and its blade is silver with an azure and gold inlay that makes it shimmer in the night. It is Sigurd solidified into a weapon I can use to fight: all his knowledge travelling through the handle into my mind. I know how to use the sword, how to fight a beast bigger than me and win. I can do this.

It lunges straight at me, but I quickly dance aside, letting it crash into a wrecked train car. I brought my blade up and slashed at its leg, cutting it off from the main body. The beast howled in pain, but somehow managed to hit me square in the chest with a rogue blow that sent me flying across the wreckage into another car.

It took me a moment to regain my bearings, but by the time I could see again the beast was gone. I gripped my sword tightly, sweat beginning to drip down my hands. I could feel Sigurd's instincts take over and allowed myself to meld with him. My senses reached out for the creature looking for its presence, but it was well hidden. Suddenly, I felt it behind me and I quickly jump out of the way of its crushing blow. The train is smashed in two where I had just been standing, but the beast can't seem to get its hand out of the train. I take this chance and charge up its arm, my sword held in a position that lends to thrusting. I pull my arm back to get momentum, and with a powerful thrust I shove my sword into its head.

The beast's eyes open wide in shock, but soon go slack as death creeps in on it. Tendrils of darkness seethe off of the beast, causing me to jump off and onto the ground. I can no longer hear Sigurd and my sword is gone, but I don't need his power any more.

When the darkness clears away I notice that a woman is lying on the ground where the beast had once been. I run up to her and check her pulse: alive. Her eyes flutter open and she looks at me with her dreary brown eyes.

"What happened?" she asked. "Where am I?" I begin to answer her but a gunshot cuts me off. The woman's body goes slack as blood begins to ooze out the newly made hole in her head. I turn around to see where the shot had come from, and standing over me is a man in a neat black suit. He had slick black hair, and equally black sunglasses covering his eyes. He was relatively pale and in his hand he held a strange handgun. I couldn't see it very well, as he whipped it into a holster on his hip and began talking on a cell phone.

"Target eliminated," he said almost mechanically. "What do I do with the boy?" Silence. I held my breath as the man continued: "Roger." He turned to me. "You are to come with me for questioning."

"Questioning about what?" I asked incredulously.

"You don't need to know now. My boss will explain it all to you shortly." I tried to protest, but he held up his hand. Clearly, I would get nowhere with him so I shut my mouth and followed him through the wreckage to wherever he was taking me.


	2. Chapter 2

Persona: FRAGMENT

Second Shard

Die Walküre

8/30

I sat in the back of a black sedan for what felt like a little over an hour when the side door opened and the man ushered me out. Before me was a large, dilapidated manor with a dead courtyard, trees hanging over walkways with empty branches. The manor was falling apart: windows hanging on hinges and holes in the walls. The roof itself was also open in places, and most likely had mold and rain damage inside. Altogether it was foreboding and looked like it came out of some old _Scooby-Doo _episode.

The man led me to the main door and opened it with a dramatic flourish, revealing an extremely dark entryway. A plush red carpet led from the door up two matching sets of stairs on the sides of the room to an upper landing where only one strip of light fell on the floor. The door slammed behind me, leaving me in darkness, so I figured the only thing I could do was to head towards the light.

"Come in," a female voice called to me before I could knock. The door was heavy and old, but I managed to get into a warm room with hard wood flooring. In the center was a bear rug with an elderly man sitting on a rocking chair. Next to him stood a woman in a black dress with a black veil covering her face. The old man looked up at me with golden eyes, but instead of speaking to me he beckoned the woman at his side so he could whisper into her ear.

"The master wishes to bid you welcome to his manse," she said in an eerily monotone voice. "You who have the power of Persona, welcome. Those who have the Potential will eventually come before my master, and now it seems that it is your time."

"Potential?" I asked. "What does that mean?"

"The power to use Persona isn't a gift given to everyone. Only a chosen few can bring out their inner heart and manifest it into power, and you are one of them. Now, my master wishes to give you this." The woman stepped forward, holding a handgun in her palms with the word "Evoker" written in bold letters across the handle.

"This is an evoker," she commented as she placed it into my hand. "You use it to bring out the power of your Persona by putting it to your head and pulling the trigger. Rather simple, no?"

"I have to shoot myself?"

"If you want to think of it that way. It's not a gun that can shoot bullets. The evoker simply awakens the hidden power inside by directly forcing it out of your soul. You used an evoker to summon your Persona before, however it was a crude one, but an evoker all the same.

"My master wishes to tell you now that it is a time of choices as well. You have met the Shadows, creatures born of sorrow and pain, and you are now at a crossroads. From here you can choose to fight the Shadows who haunt the world, or you can go back to blissful ignorance as if this never happened. The choice is yours, but my master wishes to give you time to think on it. You have until **September 29****th** to make your decision on whether you will join my master and become a Valkyrie, or if you will choose to return home. The choice is yours and you will take the consequences onto yourself in time. Now it is time for you to go. Your school starts tomorrow, doesn't it?" I nodded at her, and she nodded back. The man in the chair lifted a hand, beckoning me forward.

I stood before the man as he grasped my hand in his. He opened my fingers and into my palm placed a locket. I tried to give it back to him, but he merely shook his head and pointed to the exit. Holding the locket in my hand, I left the room trying to make sense of it all. In a little over a month I will make a choice that will set the course of my destiny, so I better make the best choice I can.

The man stood downstairs waiting for me, but rather than opening the door to the courtyard, he opened another door.

"That won't let me out," I commented.

"Just go," he replied. I gave him a funny look, but continued on regardless. The path was dark, but as I went a light shone at the end that soon opened up to a room where my luggage was laying on the ground and my bed was made. It was a dorm room.

"You're finally here!" a male voice exclaimed as I entered. "It's about damn time." Before me was a tall blond boy with his hair spiked in the front. He had green eyes and had a really bright smile. "Your stuff got here a while ago so I wasn't sure if you were here yet or not. I'm your roommate, Miles Halloway. Nice to meet you." I shook his hand and told him to call me Oz, to which he smiled.

"Oh, I hope you don't mind but I made your bed," he commented. "It was in a separate bag and I'm something of a perfectionist when it comes to making up a room."

"No, it's okay," I replied.

"Did you just get here?"

"Yeah. Did you see anything strange when I arrived?"

"Strange? What do you mean?"

"If you didn't see anything then never mind."

"Okay? Well, it's a pleasure to meet you Oz. I hope we have a good year ahead of us."

8/31

Classes ended quickly enough, and none of them seemed too difficult. I was surprised to find that nobody had heard the news of the train derailment, but I figured Valkyrie had a hand in that. Perhaps the master had connections to the media so that he could silence events involving shadows?

I returned to my dorm to find Miles on his computer. When I walked in he shut the lid and turned to me with his already characteristic smile.

"Wanna head to the activities fair with me?" he asked.

"The what?"

"It's where the school showcases all the clubs available on campus. I already know that I want to join the Theatre club, so maybe you should check out their booth with me."

"I'll go, but I'm not made for acting."

"Ah, well it could still be fun. Let's get going." We walked across campus together passing by the old buildings that were beginning to fall apart, and the new buildings just recently finished from the state funding our university receives. As we made our way to the Student Union I noticed that there were posters all over lampposts and the occasional bulletin board. The strange thing was, all the signs were the same.

"Did you not notice the signs before?" Miles asked me.

"No, I hadn't," was my response. "What is it for?"

"I forgot you weren't here for our first floor meeting. Our RA told us that the school has a curfew in place at **11:00 at night until 4:00 in the morning**. He said it was for safety reasons and that it's been in place since late last year."

"Does anyone know why the curfew was put in place?"

"I asked around but everyone told me that that's just how it is. No real reason other than for our safety apparently."

"What about parties then?"

"Haha. I didn't peg you for the partying type. Well, the RA said that if we get there before 11 we just have to stay there until 4 or just stay the whole night." I nodded as we arrived at the Union, where students were bustling around in front of booths as clubs tried to get new members. There were sports clubs and activity clubs and clubs for random television shows and for video games. It was incredible to see all the different activities, but I made me way to the sports booths as Miles went over to the Theatre Club booth.

"Hey there!" a boy called to me as I made my way to the booth. "You interested in joining the Soccer Club?"

"Yeah," I replied. "I played in high school, but I'm not the best."

"That's okay," he smiled. "We're not looking for the best, we just want to get a good team going. The name's Jason Carson, pleasure." I shook his hand and told him my name. "Nice to meet you Oz. Our meetings are on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday at 5:00 at the Club Sports Fields. I hope to see you there." I nodded my head and left the Union for my dorm.

Miles and I went to dinner, and afterward sat around watching the news. The only mention of the train crash was that the company that manufactured the cars was reporting financial losses due to unforeseen complications in the process of making the cars. It was obviously a cover-up, but I kept quiet.

"Hey," Miles began strangely shy for once. "Um, if you want to, do you want to go out with me for a bit? I wanted to take a walk around campus at night." I agreed and we left the room. It was a bit chilly outside, but it was a nice change from the heat of the day and the stifling warmth of our dorm.

"It's 10:55," I commented after we had walked for a while in silence.

"Yeah," was his only reply.

"Is there a reason you wanted to take a walk so late?"

"There's something that I wanted to ask, but it's not important."

"What is it? I'm willing to listen."

"Well, you see…I…" He stopped in his tracks as we stood in front of a clock near one of the campus's small malls. It was almost 11 now, and we needed to get back to our dorms.

"I wanted to see what happened at 11, but I didn't want to go alone," he said as the clock struck the hour. Miles had a sad look on his face, as if that wasn't what he had wanted to say, but I didn't push it. "Aren't you curious?"

"I am, but it could be—" a scream pierced the night air from the other side of the grass, and I could just barely see three figures. We ran over to where the screams had come from and we found two girls backing away from another girl who was sweating buckets and in the light cast no shadow. She fainted, but was caught by a shadowy figure and placed into a small sphere in the center of its body. It was what those people called a Shadow, and it was large like the one the other night.

Unlike the beast from the train, this shadow had a tiny head on top of a cage-like body. On its back sprouted two wings and hanging from its body were long chains with masks instead of links in some parts. The masks were wailing, making the girls and Miles to cover their ears in pain. The two girls fainted, but Miles held his ground.

"What the hell—" he began as a chain whipped out and caught him in the chest, sending him flying across the mall. I saw him land, but my attention was called back to the shadow when it swung one of its chains at me. I managed to dodge the attack, but it was floating up in the air higher and higher as the air below began to pick up speed.

I knew what I had to do to fight it, so I pulled the evoker from the holster inside my jacket and put it to my head. My breath was coming quicker now, but I had to fight back. If I didn't those girls and Miles would die. A bullet to the head couldn't be too bad if I could save everyone, would it?

The trigger felt heavy as my finger played with it. I pulled it lightly, but it wouldn't budge. The wind began to pick up as I applied force to it, my thoughts beginning to race with the fear of death in front of me. Would the evoker really work? If it didn't, could I call Sigurd again? I had no time to dwell on my thoughts, so with a push of courage I pulled the trigger and—

Sigurd's warmth began to flow through me as shards of light fell from above my head. The light began to coalesce into the shape of a sword in my hand, and once more I felt the familiar strength that Sigurd had given me before. A surge of power flowed through me as I yelled:

"Persona!" and Sigurd was complete in my hand. The shadow was almost finished preparing its attack for the wind was swirling fast beneath it, but I felt something different in my Persona, so I let the power flow. I put my palm forward and said **Agi** as a burst of flame shot out from my hand and at the shadow. It cried out in pain as the wind died down and it fell to the ground.

I rushed at the shadow with my sword in a thrust, plunging my blade into its body. It cried out in pain, at the same time lashing with its chains striking me across the shoulder. I stumbled back as it righted itself, beginning to float again. Fire formed in my hands again as I prepped another **Agi** spell, but the shadow had other plans, for the masks on the chains were beginning to cackle and fall to the ground. Where the masks fell, tiny shadows began to grow with long, gelatinous arms and blob-like bodies. With a cry from the larger shadow the small ones rushed at me, arms flailing in an attack.

I had to fight off the small shadows, so my attention was diverted from the large shadow, but I could feel it preparing that wind attack again. Once I had finished taking care of the small ones, the wind was so strong that I could hardly stand. The shadow let out a howl, sending blades of wind into me, knocking me back and onto the ground. I heard a cry behind me, and saw that Miles had been hit as well.

"Miles get out of here!" I called to him.

"No way," he said back. "I can't just leave you here to die. Let's get going!" He motioned for me to follow, holding his stomach as blood flowed down his stomach. "Come on!" he yelled. I shook my head, clutching Sigurd tightly in my hands.

The shadow wasted no time and launched an attack with his chains I just barely managed to parry. I was beginning to grow tired, and I didn't know how much longer I could last against it. I had to finish it now.

"**Agi**!" I cried, sending a ball of fire at the shadow and knocking it from the sky again. This was my chance, so I rushed forward to deliver a powerful jumping stab, but before I could get to the shadow I was knocked off my feet by its chains. It was keeping me from finishing it off, knowing that I was nearing my own limits. The masks began to cackle again as they dropped to the ground and began to form into shadows once more. I dropped to my knees, unable to keep moving and I felt a hand on my shoulder. Miles was still there, and was trying to help me up, but he was so week that he couldn't keep himself standing either. Was this the end?

"**Mazio**!" I heard a voice cry as a flash of lightning struck down all the shadows in front of me.

"Hey now, get up!" another voice said to me as strong arms lifted me up off the ground. "We've got a job to finish." I nodded, and looked at the boy who was talking to me. He had black hair that almost covered up his green eyes, and wore a large pair of headphones around his neck. In his hands were two sharp rings that he immediately sent flying at some of the remaining shadows.

The other boy who had shown up was tall with short-cropped auburn hair. He had grey eyes and wore an open button down shirt and a pair of boxing shorts ,while on his hands were boxing gloves.

"We don't have time to sit around," he yelled at me. "Let's do this!" He charged at the shadow with his guard up, weaving through the remaining shadows as he prepped a punch. He jumped up and slammed his fist into the shadow's head, sending it crashing to the ground. The other boy didn't waste any time casting a spell called **Garu** which sent blades of wind through the shadow. I knew this was my chance, so I charged to the shadow and jumped high over it, letting the flames of Sigurd dance around the sword. I plunged the blade deep into the shadow's head, flames ripped through the shadow and in an instant caused the beast to shatter into fragments of darkness.

The girl inside fell to the ground, and remained unconscious. The others were also unconscious, and showed no signs of waking up.

"Dammit!" the boxer cried. "We were too late."

"Fuck," the other said, kicking a rock at his feet. "If only I had found it sooner then—"

"Excuse me," I cut in, "but who are you two? Are you with Valkyrie?"

"Valkyrie?" the one with headphones asked.

"Are you with those assholes?" the boxer asked as he gripped my collar, lifting me off the ground. "Huh?"

"No," I gasped. "Let me down!" With a humph the boy let me drop to the ground and turned his back to me.

"If you're not with Valkyrie then who are you?" the headphone boy asked, looking concerned.

"My name's Oscar Belcourt," I responded. "I just found out I could use Persona last night when I was attacked on the train."

"I knew there was something funny about that story."

"Your intuition's usually right," the boxer commented. "So, you can use Persona and you've met with Valkyrie eh? Well, I guess it can't hurt to introduce ourselves. My name's Flynn Walker, and this here's Yuri Romanov." Headphone boy waved and smiled. "We're Persona users as well, but we're not with Valkyrie."

"Then who are you with?" I asked.

"It's getting late and your friend needs to get back," Yuri cut in. "Normal people don't last too long out in the night." I looked over at Miles and saw that he was breathing harder than normal and looked very sick.

"What's wrong with—"

"Tomorrow," Flynn stated firmly. "Here's my card. Call me tomorrow evening and we'll have a chat." With a wave, the two boys walked off and left me standing there with questions and no answers.


End file.
